A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! (Japanese: ピカチュウとデデンネ！ほっぺすりすり！！Pikachu and Dedenne! Cheek Rub!!) is the fourth episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 803rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 31, 2013 and in the United States on February 8, 2014.

Contents

Blurb

At Professor Sycamore’s research lab, Serena has to choose between Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie for her first Pokémon. After learning about the three with her new Pokédex, she tells the professor she made her choice even before she got there. It’s Fennekin!

Meanwhile, our heroes are on their way to Santalune City for Ash’s first Gym battle, and Bonnie is demonstrating just how much she loves to take care of Pokémon. She gives Pikachu a bath, then helps Fletchling clean its wings. The two Pokémon are happily settling in for some snacks when the Dedenne our heroes encountered earlier leaps out of a nearby bush and nabs the food! Bonnie wants Clemont to catch this adorable Pokémon for her, but it goes running off, and everyone follows.

Pikachu follows Dedenne into its burrow, but they end up at the base of a tall cliff, unable to get back to the rest of the gang. To make matters worse, the villains of Team Rocket have been observing the two Pokémon, and now their plan to catch Pikachu includes catching Dedenne, too!

Our heroes catch up, a fierce battle ensues, and Team Rocket is left empty-handed—but Dedenne has been hurt. To restore it, Clemont produces another one of his inventions. This electric generator quickly gets Dedenne recharged, but then Clemont can’t turn the machine off, and it explodes. Dedenne is OK, though, and with Clemont’s gift of healing electricity, it’s decided it wants to join the group. Clemont and Bonnie have a new Pokémon friend!

Meanwhile, as she travels through an ominous forest, Serena realizes it’ll be getting dark soon. She wants to find a Pokémon Center where she and Fennekin can stay for the night. She sees someone behind a tree and asks for directions—but what looked like a woman in a striped dress turns out to be a wild Vespiquen! When it attacks, Fennekin leaps to Serena’s rescue and scares it off. Then, Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff show up to investigate the sounds of battle—and point the way to the nearby Pokémon Center. Relieved and happy, Serena races Fennekin all the way there!

Continuing along Route 4, Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie are resting in the woods as they make their way to Santalune City. Bonnie gushes over Pikachu's cuteness and strokes his tail, and then excitedly asks Ash if she can also pet Fletchling. Ash calls out Fletchling and Bonnie begins to clean its wings.

Ash then allows Bonnie to feed Pikachu and Fletchling some Pokémon food. However, a Dedenne runs up to Bonnie, snatches a piece of Pokémon food from her hand, and runs up a tree to eat it. The three are shocked, as they realize that this Dedenne is the same one that ran away from them earlier. Bonnie still desperately wants the Dedenne, but it runs away again, so the three chase after it. Ash asks Fletchling to follow Dedenne by air, but it loses sight of the Antenna Pokémon. While searching, Bonnie trips over a small hole and sees Dedenne in a similar hole. The group attempt to catch Dedenne, but it continues to evade them by appearing in the different holes along the path. Clemont and Ash send Bunnelby's and Pikachu respectively to try corner Dedenne underground. Pikachu eventually blocks Dedenne’s path underground before tackling Dedenne. However the ground underfoot gives way, sending the two Electric types rolling out of a cliff face and landing in a field. The two Electric Pokémon start communicating via electricity to try and find their way back. However, the keen-eyed Team Rocket spot the pair and decide to capture Pikachu and Dedenne for themselves.

As Pikachu and Dedenne prepare to head back to Ash and the others, Dedenne’s stomach grumbles. Pikachu looks around before spotting something, and he uses a Thunderbolt to retrieve a Sitrus Berry from a nearby tree which Dedenne begins to eat. However, they are interrupted by Team Rocket who try but fail to capture the two in several electric nets. Pikachu warns Dedenne about the troublesome trio before the pair start running away. Pikachu switches tactics and tries a Thunderbolt. Though Jessie commands Wobbuffet use Mirror Coat, which reflects the attack at double the power back at Pikachu and Dedenne. Nonetheless, Pikachu and Dedenne continue to run from Team Rocket’s clutches, leading to a steep rocky cliff face. Jessie throws an electric net at the pair which misses, but causes Dedenne to fall. Pikachu manages to grab its tail and then both run further up the rocky cliff face. To catch up to them, James decides to use his new Inkay, and Inkay manages to injure Dedenne with Tackle. Inkay proceeds to use Psybeam which knocks both Electric Pokémon into a river. Team Rocket then chase them downstream on an inflatable boat but end up crashing into a rock. The boat deflates, which sends them blasting off.

Pikachu and Dedenne manage to land on the river bank as Ash's Fletchling flies overhead and spots the pair. Ash and friends soon reunite with the two Pokémon, quickly realizing that Dedenne is in a serious condition. Clemont decides to heal Dedenne with an electrical recharge from his "Electricity Generator". While Dedenne feels better, Clemont reveals that the off switch isn’t working, which causes the machine to explode.

Team Rocket returns in their balloon and Clemont commands Dedenne to fight. Dedenne uses Tackle on James's Inkay, but Inkay retaliates with Foul Play. Inkay then uses Psybeam which Dedenne dodges, then hits Inkay with another Tackle. Dedenne uses Nuzzle, paralyzing the Revolving Pokémon. Dedenne and Pikachu then use Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt simultaneously, sending a lightning bolt at Inkay and Team Rocket, sending them blasting them off yet again. With Team Rocket taken care of, Clemont finally catches Dedenne. The three are overjoyed, especially Bonnie. Clemont lets Dedenne out of its Poké Ball, and Bonnie unwittingly tells Dedenne to use Nuzzle, resulting in another electric shock for her. Dedenne then begins to sleep to conserve his energy, which Clemont explains is normal for Dedenne. Bonnie promptly places Dedenne inside her yellow purse bag to allow it to rest soundly. Clemont and Ash whisper that they better hit the road again, while Bonnie lets out an excited cheer, only to be hushed by her companions to avoid disturbing Dedenne's sleep.

With the sun setting, Serena and her new Fennekin are worried about having to camp outside. Serena notices a "person" along the path who she goes to ask for directions. The "person" turns out to be a Vespiquen which attacks them, but Fennekin saves the day when she repels the Vespiquen with an Ember attack. The Vespiquen flies away before a passing Nurse Joy and her Wigglytuff arrive. Serena asks if a Pokémon Center is nearby, and is thrilled to learn that one is just up ahead.

This contradicts the events of The Power of One, where Meowth translates the electrical language used between Ash's Pikachu and Zapdos. It should be noted, however, that both Zapdos and Pikachu were also verbally communicating at the same time during the movie.

Errors

In the scene where Bunnelby comes out of a hole after searching for Dedenne, when the camera is behind it, its ears are shown to be behind its head, but when the camera switched forward, the ears are shown to be in front of its head.

In the Finnish dub, the surname for James's voice actor, Peter Pihlström, is misspelled as "Pihlsröm" in the credits. This error also occurs in many subsequent episodes.

Dub edits

Like in the past three episodes, the title card is lacking the characters' shadows in the dub for an unknown reason. This edit was reverted in home video and iTunes releases, as well as non-US airings.

For unknown reasons, the title card segment was skipped in the Hindi dub.